Listening in

I love other people’s conversations. I am not ashamed of this, or if I am, it doesn’t stop me from listening in, because other people are far too interesting and, occasionally, educational, to pass by. This is a big part of why I love riding the bus–it’s a veritable minefield of interesting Other People to spy on.

For example: tonight, as my bus passed through campus, three enormous young men got on. I took them to be football players, given their buzzcuts, mode of dress (T-shirts and gym shorts, all emblazoned “WWU Football”), taciturn expressions and sheer bulk–one of them had his right shoulder wrapped in a sling of syran-wrap; another sat down in front of me and fairly obstructed my view of the rest of the bus.

After a moment of brooding silence, the guy in front of me asked one of the others, “So, how long do you think I should cook those potatoes? Twenty minutes?”

“Dude,” came the response, “I’d say more like thirty. Otherwise they’re still a little crisp in the middle, and that’s no good.”

The third chimed in: “What else are you serving?”

“Chicken.”

“Drumsticks? Breasts?”

“Breast meat. I got some really good stuff cheap at Cost Cutter.”

They proceeded to discuss different methods of cooking chicken breast. It absolutely made my day.